Watch: 1-armed kid goes viral with incredible feat on baseball field
Last May, The Wildcard told you about Luke Terry, a middle schooler from Lewisburg, Tennessee, who played catcher for his baseball team — with one arm.
When he was just 19 months old, Luke contracted E. coli, and his right arm was amputated.
That hasn’t stopped him from playing baseball, which he took up at age 4. Luke uses a self-taught technique behind the plate: He catches the pitch and flips the ball in the air. At the same time, he drops his glove, catches the ball in midair and throws it back. Luke makes it look effortless.
Now he is a freshman at Cornersville High School, and the 15-year-old is catching for the Bulldogs.
Earlier this month, his incredible skills caught the eye of a Twitter user named Tony Austin, who said his friend’s son was at the plate in front of Luke. Austin shared the video, saying, “Let’s make this guy known!”
It worked.
The video of Luke has been viewed more than 6.5 million times. More than 94,000 people have retweeted it, and another 284,000 have liked it.
The tweet caught the attention of many star athletes, including MLB legends George Brett and Chipper Jones and NFL Hall of Famer Deion Sanders.
I bet someone said he couldn’t play. Just goes to show when you put your mind to something anything can happen
— George Brett (@GeorgeHBrett) April 3, 2018
“It was kind of shocking to know that it went viral,” Luke told The Washington Post. “Everybody was texting me and asking me if I saw the video and I was like, ‘I don’t know what you are talking about.’ Then they finally showed me, and I couldn’t believe it.”
The Post said Sanders, who was a major league outfielder in addition to his legendary NFL career, called Luke on Monday night and asked him what kind of equipment he wanted.
“Luke came into the house grinning ear to ear,” said his mother, Dana Terry. “You can’t fathom it. It’s like it’s unreal. I grew up watching Deion Sanders play, and now he’s watching my son. It’s awesome.
“It’s gotten to where everyone knows who Luke is.”
The teenager said he’s glad the video and his story have touched so many people’s lives.
“I’ve had a bunch of people reach out and tell me how inspiring it is,” Luke told The Post. “I don’t really know how to explain it. It feels good.”
Truth and Accuracy
We are committed to truth and accuracy in all of our journalism. Read our editorial standards.
Advertise with The Western Journal and reach millions of highly engaged readers, while supporting our work. Advertise Today.
